The Knight's Tale
Folio 31v
15 of 35 folios
Now lord haue reuthe / vp on my sorwes sore
Ȝeue me the victorie / I aske the nomore
¶ The prayer stynt of Arcita the strong
The rynges of the temple dore / þat hong
1565
And eke the dores / clateren ful faste
Of whicħ Arcita / som what hī a gaste
The fires brent / vp on the auter brygħt
That it gan / al the temple for to ligħt
A Swete Smel / a non / þe ground vp ȝaue
1570
And Arcita a non / his hand vp haue
And more encens / in to the fyr he cast
With othere riȝtes mo / and at the last
¶ The statute of Mars / bygan his hauberk rynge
And with þt Soun / he herd a mrmurynge
1575
Ful lowe and dym / and seide thus / victorie
For whicħ / he ȝaf to Mars / honor and glorie
¶ And thus with ioye / and hope wel to fare
Arcite a non / vn to his In is fare
As fayn as foul / is of the brygħt Sonne
1580
And rigħt a non / swicħ a strif / þere is bygonne
For thilke gauntyng / in þe heuene a boue
Betwix venus / the goddesse of loue
And Mars / the sterne god armypotent
That Iubit er was besy / it to stent
1585
Til þt the pale / Saturnus / the colde
That knew so manye / of auentures olde
Fond in his old experience / and art
That the ful sone / hatħ plesed euery part
¶ As soth is seid / elde hath gret auauntage
1590
In elde is bothe wysdom / and vsage
Men may the olde at renne / and nat at rede
Saturne a non / to stynten stryf and drede
Al be it / þat it is / a geyn his kynde
Of al this strif / he can remedye fynde
1595
¶ My dere doughter venus / qd Saturne
My cours / that hatħ so wyde / for to turne
Hath more powere / than wot ony man
Myn is the drenchyng / in the see so wan
Myn is the prysoū / in the derke Cote
1600
Myn is the strangelyng / & hangyng by the throte
The murmur / and the cherles rebellyng
The groynyng / and the pryue enpoysenyng
I do vengeaunce / and pleyn correccoū
While I dwelle in þe signe of the lyoū
1605
Myn is the ruyne / of the heye halles